The Cardinals finally made a decision with their roster that makes sense

For the vast majority of this offseason, I have been hypercritical of the St. Louis Cardinals' decision-making, primarily in regards to their Major League roster. The organization had the opportunity to truly clear the way for the kids to spread their wings, but instead, they entered spring training with far more questions than answers.

To be fair, if young arms filled the rotation like young bats currently fill their lineup, there would still be question marks. Andre Pallante has kind of proven himself at this point, but Michael McGreevy's sample size is extremely small, Quinn Mathews has yet to debut, and former top prospect Matthew Liberatore has struggled mightly in the rotation at the big league level.

But that's kind of the point. For the Cardinals, there is so much value to be gained in getting information on those guys this season. Giving these young arms the opportunity to sink or swim will not only help determine whom they can trust in 2026, but it would also have a significant impact on the trajectory of the club long term.

All offseason, Steven Matz became a major data point for me in this discussion and seeing whether the Cardinals would make the right decision for the club long term, even if it meant giving the rotation spot of a veteran starter away.

I got flak for it at the time, but at the end of December, I wrote about how I actually preferred the Cardinals holding onto Matz and shopping a starter like Erick Fedde instead. I was not opposed at all to the idea of Matz being traded, but if a starter were to be moved, Fedde made far more sense. Fedde could actually get the Cardinals a real return in a trade, and Matz, in the final year of his deal, could fill a role in the Cardinals bullpen and act as insurance for the rotation should they need him.

My major concern, though, was whether the Cardinals would actually follow that plan. If camp came around and young arms were ready to claim spots, would they be willing to move Matz to the bullpen before real games were played?

Well, we got our answer on Sunday, and I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised with the club's decision-making.

Allowing Matthew Liberatore a true opportunity to start over Steven Matz was the right move by the Cardinals

If you haven't been keeping up with the Cardinals' spring training games, Matz has actually been one of the best pitchers in camp so far in terms of performance. I personally don't take much stock in camp stats, but as Sonny Gray and Andre Pallante have struggled mightily, Matz has cruised through his five starts and 19.2 innings pitched with a 2.29 ERA. Honestly, if you told me he would do that entering camp, I would have said there was no shot the Cardinals put him in the bullpen.

Would I really believe this organization, which has a long history of playing "the contracts" rather than the young players who are proving they are worthy, would actually move a veteran who seems to be performing into a different role?

They actually did it. They don't deserve some major applause for doing the right thing, but I do think it's worth noting when they do something "out of character" to start a season where they claim to want to make more decisions like that.

Matthew Liberatore has been awesome in camp. I don't think the Cardinals actually believed he would be in this position right now when camp began. In 16.2 innings, Liberatore posted a 1.62 ERA and 0.78 WHIP, which his offspeed stuff grading out extremely well in camp and the Cardinals having at least some more confidence in his heater in prolonged stretches.

Now, it is totally possible that by the end of April or sometime in May, Liberatore has completely flamed out of the rotation and is back in the bullpen. But what excites me about this decision from St. Louis is they are giving him a legitimate chance to run with a rotation spot. If it fails, it will be Michael McGreevy time here in St. Louis, but if he succeeds, the Cardinals may have uncovered another young arm in their system like they did with Pallante last year.

Steven Matz will get opportunites this year to start. He is set to be a part of their six-man rotation when they move to that in the middle of April, but he's clearly set up to be their "swing-man" this year rather than a guaranteed starter. If the big league club needs a spot start during a long stretch of games, they can "break glass if necessary" and pull Matz in for a start. If a bunch of injuries happen and they need a body, Matz is there. If young arms are not performing, Matz is there. And if they don't need Matz in the rotation, he's proven he can perform in the bullpen.

I wasn't confident the Cardinals would actually go down this route, but here we are. I hope this is a sign of things to come as the season goes on. If arms like McGreevy and Mathews are still pounding on the door but not given an opportunity as we approach June, something will be really wrong with how the Cardinals are operating. But for now, this is a good sign. If Liberatore can run with this opportunity, it would be a huge development for the club.